The Helium Time Columns are so much more than just a 66-foot-tall sculpture of four stainless steel columns. Each leg of the sculpture is a time capsule, with artifacts, letters, and knowledge from 1968 stored inside in an inert helium atmosphere. These time capsules were set to be opened 25, 50, 100, and 1000 years after the statue dedication in 1968.

But wait, there's more -- attached under the sculpture is a model of a helium atom. And the sculpture is also a sundial, marking the time on the dais that houses the sculpture.

[Johnny Mac, 01/20/2015]

Helium Time Columns Monument

A 60 foot, three-tiered spire with a 3-5 foot helium molecule in the center of the spire.

[david krussow, 05/11/2005]

Each of the four "columns" in the sculpture contains a 1968 time capsule filled with valuable artifacts -- packed in helium -- from the helium industry. The first was opened in 1993, and the last will be opened in 2968.

Helium Time Columns Monument

Can't miss the 6-story stainless steel helium molecule in Amarillo, Texas! It's in some medical park or something north of I-40.

[jim, 01/18/1997]

That's the Helium Time Columns Monument, outside of the Don Harrington Discovery Center, erected in 1968 to commemorate the centennial of the discovery of the unusual natural element, found in Amarillo in the world's greatest quantity!